Saturday, October 25, 2014

I have been wanting to make this jelly for years...since the first time I saw a photo of it in Lianna Krissoff's Canning For A New Generation: Bold, Fresh Flavors For The Modern Pantry. It just looked so pretty. The fact that I enjoy sweet and hot tastes combined was just a bonus, but really, for me, this is a "bling" jelly.

My CSA has been sending a ridiculous number of hot peppers, which, oddly, I don't typically use in everyday cooking. I reach for the end product of hot peppers when making breakfast, lunch, and dinner - the dried peppers and chiles, hot sauces, hot oils, etc. I will apparently have the ability to make a lot of my own "end products" as each of the recipes I have investigated uses only a few ounces of chiles.

The reason I had not tackled this particular recipe, as enticing as it is, before now was strictly due to intimidation. It calls for making apple pectin and seemed like loads of additional work. Surprise! Not really so much!

4 lbs of Granny Smith apples cut into eighths, 4 ounces of chiles and one bell pepper roughly chopped, 3 cups of water, 3 cups of white vinegar, a sliced lemon, and some of the papery skin of a few red onions.

When prepping the apples, you leave the seeds and core but remove the stem. While the seeds and core add to the pectin levels, the stem contributes nothing but a little yuck factor. Bring the whole mess to a boil, occasionally giving it a stir, until you see the apple wedges come apart from their skin. This should take 20 to 30 minutes. You house should smell divine by now!

The onion skins are for color. You can also use a cup of plums or cranberries for the same purpose without substantially changing the flavor of the resulting jelly

Drain the mixture into a fine mesh strainer (or a jelly bag), a big one unless you want a mess, set into a large bowl, and let it drip. You can stir it now and then just to get things moving but if you have made jelly, you know not to mess with it too much or you will make your jelly cloudy. If you didn't know that already, now you do!

This fits nicely, with enough of a lip to grab later without burning or pinching my fingers, and plenty of room in the bowl for the liquid to drain out. It defeats the purpose if you have it sit in the liquid

At the end of 30 minutes, you should have about 4 cups of liquid. If you are short, add some water to the strainer mixture and give it a gentle, non-cloud-inducing stir to make up the difference.

During the wait, you can set up your jelly/water-bath canning process: sterilized hot jars, small plate in the freezer with spoons, and lids being warmed for later sealing. Also, wash out that big pot! You are about to use it again and don't want bits and pieces in it (clouds, always the clouds).

Pour the juice back into the pan along with 3/4 cup of sugar per cup of liquid (telling you this for future reference in case you make a small batch of something using apple pectin), in this case, about 3 cups of sugar. Bring it to a boil and stir to keep from burning until either a candy thermometer reads about 220F or you do the jelly test with your freezer plate and spoon. This should take about 15 to 20 minutes.

The jelly test -

Version 1: you put small amount amount of jelly on the cold plate. Let it rest for 30 seconds and tilt or nudge. If it runs down the plate, keep boiling.

Version 2: you dip your cold spoon into the boiling jelly and raise it up about 12 inches, turning it sideways. If the syrup flows down to form 2 drops that become a sheet and hang off the side of the spoon, it is done.

Once your jelly is done, spoon it into the hot jars, leaving a 1/4 inch headspace. Clean the edges with a damp paper towel or cotton cloth, place a flat lid on each jar, and finger-tighten each ring. Process the jars in the canner for 5 minutes, timing after the water begins to boil fully, then remove to the counter. As much as you want to play with them, don't disturb for 12 hours. Make sure you hear that beautiful ping as each jar seals.

As always, the recipe says you get 4 half-pints. I get 3 and a 1/2 half-pints, tiny jar not pictures as it was being eaten. ::ahem::

Krissoff is quiet on what to do wtih all that boiled apple, chile, and pepper mess. This was my thought

I ended up with about double this - a tangy, spicy, apple-y puree now in the freezer while I ponder its use. I have ideas!

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Thank you, Marisa McClellan, for your obsession with things in jars. Small batch canning is really the way to go for would be canners on the go. This recipe is from her Food In Jars, a book I highly recommend to anyone wanting to dabble in putting up.

My local farmer's market had a "last chance" batch of pickling cucumbers, so I couldn't resist the opportunity to make up some pickles or relish or whatever struck me once I got home. I missed the sweet tang of a bread and butter pickle so I sliced and salted and stuck a bowl (with lid, not pictured) in the refrigerator to wait.

The following afternoon, I rinsed and drained my vegetables and let them sit while I boiled up 2 cups of apple cider vinegar and 1 1/2 cups of sugar. When the sugar was dissolved, I added my seasonings: 2 tbsp of mustard seed, 2 tsp of celery seed, 1 tsp of red pepper flakes, and 1/2 tsp of ground cloves. Once the mixture boiled, I dumped in the vegetables, using the 5 minute cook time to set up my sterilized jars and other canning equipment. Stir occasionally, then remove from heat to fill your jars.

Look how far above the brine this is. Give it a minute!

And this is 5 minutes later.

At this point, you use your tongs to fill your clean, hot jars with the cucumber mixture. Carefully fill the jars with the brine, leaving a 1/2 inch headspace.

Marisa's recipe says 5 pints but I don't end up with more than 3 and a snack bowl

Tap your jars on a towel covered counter (you do NOT want hot, sticky pickle juice and broken glass all over!) or use a de-bubbling tool to remove all the air pockets. Check that headspace and adjust the brine levels accordingly. Wipe your rims, place your lids and rings on to finger tight, and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

I remove the lid and let it sit, burner off, for 5 minutes just as a matter of habit after a bad, bad experience with canning tomatoes. Take your jars out of the canner and let them cool on the counter.

Try really hard to not get into them for 48 hours. I know, it's difficult, but it will be worth the wait!

For a more detailed, official write up, I refer you to Food in Jars: Preserving in Small Batches Year-Round by Marisa McClellan